Doctor Who: Chibnall’s Gone, What’s Next?

Oh, this was a good thing to hear after he announced that Series 13 will be one long story and the trailer to this sci-fi adventure showed zero aliens. The fact that Chris Chibnall is leaving Doctor Who shouldn’t be a cause for celebration. That should never be the case with anyone leaving the show. The fact someone has quit (or is fired) from their job should never be a point of excited reverie from anyone. However, this follows the countless poor decisions by Chris Chibnall and his team, utterly destroying any chance Jodie had as the Doctor in some people’s eyes. That is reason enough.

The constant pillaring that Jodie receives for “not being the Doctor,” even though she’s done everything every other Doctor has done, is inexcusable. Yes, I hoist up Chris Chibnall as the example of who you don’t want writing Doctor Who a lot, with his episodes being particularly crap in almost every regard. I say this about a week after stating that he does know how to write old white men and can stick to what he knows. I can joke all I like about enjoying Brian Williams (Pond) and Graham, but almost no other character he’s written, and I could jest about how his writing is always about time. None of which is productive.

The truth is, and I’ve said this before, Chris Chibnall works as a writer on a mid-week ITV drama about a policeman being sad on a beach. Broadchurch was a success, somehow. However, he has always struggled with the big concept in the short-form, which Doctor Who requires. “The Power of Three” is the best example of an interesting concept, but once you get to the ending, he somewhat stumbles across the finish line for bronze. I’m torn on saying he’s a bad writer, because he knows full-well the basic concepts and can handle them anywhere else. Though when Chibnall writes for Doctor Who, everything seems to fall out of the window.

All of this is ignoring the biggest news about Doctor Who aside from Chibnall’s exit: Jodie is leaving at the same time. As much as I do cheer that Chris isn’t getting more than one Doctor in his run, I’m sad to see his only Doctor is leaving too. As I said further above, Jodie is a Doctor that hasn’t been handed the best of material, which some seem to mistake as a reason to lambast her, and her alone. Yes, there is plenty to comment on that is different or odd with Jodie, but to say “she’s not the Doctor” with all the spit and venom of Reddit users talking about GamerGate is unwarranted. Despite writing, set-design, and several issues, it is easy to see how much she’s embraced the role and her interactions with fans. She’s just one of the most lovely people to take the role.

Yet, neverendingly, you’ll find young white men playing metaphorical twister. They turn themselves inside out, trying to justify why they just didn’t click with Jodie from the first minute. I’ll be honest, there are moments where she’s not exactly filling the role the way it should be filled (in my eyes), which is something I’d say is down to writing. The most recent special featured a segment with Ryan and the Doctor sitting on that horrible step thing in the T.A.R.D.I.S. She talks about his hat and asks: “and, how do you feel about that?” Which is the writing equivalent of saying, “I don’t know how to write human dialogue, so I’ll just write out the question want to pose.”

Those awkward and clunky lines, the unhomeliness of the T.A.R.D.I.S design, and companions providing as much use to the plot as a gun in the Doctor’s hands provides protection, I understand some criticism. However, to place that on one actor alone is wholly unfair. Some would argue that my assertion of Chibnall’s name being the one to blame for all faults or failures is ill-placed, but he’s the one where the buck stops. It is his decision alongside producers and other partners in the creative process, but he is the buck where it stops. Ultimately, he’s been the guiding force in these past five years of Doctor Who.

So, what is next for the show? Honestly, it is far too early to tell with accuracy, as the BBC will still be in the early stages of looking for both replacements. The biggest question surrounding the show for some is who takes over as the Doctor? Often people float names that are arguably already too big or too out there to feel right. The go-to line by Tumblr users is “Sue Perkins would be perfect, she’s the female Tennant.” Do we need the, so-called, “female Tennant?” I’d say no, and that is nothing against Sue, but the role should be cast as the Doctor, not the sex of X-former actor in the role.

There will always be comparisons between actors taking the role of the same characters: Bond and many remakes see this often. I think Sue Perkins could do a fantastic job as a Doctor, but I think when you are casting a new Doctor you need to think of more than just what you can rekindle from a bygone era of the show. Yes, Matt Smith is said to be a great mix of the 2nd and 4th Doctor, fun and energetic in both regards. However, between those three actors, there is a time span that reaches beyond thirty years. We’ve hardly crossed ten years since the 10th left. I’d like to think the casting would be surprising, exciting, and generally different.

There is that very open discussion among those more casual to the show. The question among those further entrenched in the nitty-gritty details of production care about the showrunner. A role introduced in the 2005 return, Russell T Davies became the controlling arm of the show. However, the role was previously filled by producers of the classic-Who era, with the flamboyant and eccentric John Nathan-Turner holding the reigns between writers, designers, and other creatives, and the BBC itself. With only three men holding the role as Showrunner, all of which are former writers of some kind to the show or its extended products, there is a lot to pick through.

It would be far too easy to say Paul Cornell, and be done with it. Though I would love to see that if the chance came to the writer behind a few of the books, particularly, “Human Nature.” Others would call for Mark Gatiss to take up the role, or Toby Whithouse, neither of which I’d prefer as they both have a propensity for horror-themed episodes. The names listed are only noted because they have notable episodes in the show, or they come with an extended back catalog of examples of what they write. This is why I haven’t said Malorie Blackman, Ed Hime, Stephen Thompson, or others of the revival era, there is a lack of examples to pull from.

I’d love Malorie Blackman to take over and in doing so, cast Jo Martin as our next Doctor. It would never happen, but it would be fantastic to anger the misogynists and racists at the same time. I guess this is why I am not getting the call to take over the show. I’d have lesbian companions, a cross-dressing Doctor who would just go back in time to tell Reagan he’s wrong about the gays, and have massive adventures with aliens. However, for all this talk about the people that have written for the show previously, that well is somewhat run dry at this point.

Quality actors are a dime a dozen, but a quality writer that not only looks for ambitious stories to tell and nurtures a great team around them is hard to find. I could joke that this is why the BBC went with the safe option of Chibnall the last time around. I know who I want, but he will never be cast as the Doctor, as he’s a large enough name to turn it down respectfully. Though I can’t for the life of me, picture a writer that could take up the role. At least, I can’t think of someone that would make me feel reassured that they would make the show that not only I would like, but others too. I’m not saying the overnight ratings matter, there are further metrics to determine the show’s popularity than that, but in the Chibnall era there has been a storied dip.

Unfortunately, some will not come back no matter what you do, at least not straight away. I speak from experience. I dropped out during Smith’s early run, returned later as Gillian and Darvill left, dropped again once Amy was gone, returned with Capaldi’s run with Clara, and wanting to beat my head in ever since. This is the problem with recent Doctor Who, and it is a problem I enjoy the idea of solving. We’ve had an old man, a young man, a woman, and what is next? Do we return to someone old, someone young, or another woman? Do we go for the third Black Time-Lord? Who is next?

I jest about the whole putting my name into the hat thing, but at this point, I’ve written and re-written numerous episodes, adventures, and stories. I don’t know why I don’t just do it. Since the article about the whole MCU-style DWCU, I’ve worked on some of those ideas, and I don’t know why. They’ll never get made, they are too dull, or too expensive to produce at a high quality. Generally, like most people who create anything, I’m not entirely satisfied with them myself. In the pure hypothetical that I ever would run the show, I’d never get the actors I desire, I’d never consider the writing to be well-done, and I’d end up resenting the show.

Tortured hypotheticals to inflate and then deflate my own ego aside, the show is losing a good thing. The show is losing a great talent in Jodie Whittaker, who may have faltered with dud-lines and tripe direction from time to time, but overall someone who came into the show with open arms to everyone. As I said, if you search for footage of her interactions with fans, she’s the kindest person you’ll have seen that day. Through a mountain of abuse hurled in her direction, Jodie is weathering more than her fair share of any criticism and ultimately needless hatred.

Ultimately, one of the biggest faults I think that came from Chibnall’s work has been his desire to hold onto the writing of the show without any ambition. In his two series (so far) as showrunner, he’s taken seven credits in the first and eight in the second, that is fifteen credits across twenty-two episodes. No, I am not saying as showrunner he shouldn’t do this, but there were three straight episodes in series 12 with him co-writing them, and only three without his name on them whatsoever. the prior season only had one co-written credit and four without him.

For comparison, Russel T Davies took eight credits in series 1, but only five in series 2. He continued a low number of five-six over his later years leading into the specials. Moffat in his first series took six, and again in series 6 and 7, then wrote the anniversary and Christmas special in 2013. In series 8 and 10, he took control of seven episodes each. With series 9, he equals Davies’ series 1 record of eight. Why am I explaining all of this? It honestly feels like a man who took control without the purpose in mind that his counterparts had going into the show.

If Chris Chibnall achieved everything he set out to when becoming showrunner, then I have questions. Who wants to write Doctor Who, where a Doctor uses Nazis (or the show’s metaphor for Nazism) twice to get rid of her enemies? Who wants to write the companions without any sense of personality? Especially since when they could use what they are to effect, they just forget they are a cop… Yas! Most importantly, who in their right mind writes a climactic plotline that changes the title from Doctor Who to Doctor What? Someone without a sense of direction and ambition beyond melodrama and the world’s dullest sci-fi.